When I first heard about “Shoshana Halutz Merkazi” (or “Kicking Out Shoshana” as it’s known in English), I admit, my curiosity was piqued mostly because Gal Gadot stars in it. You know how it is—her presence alone often shoots up your expectations, right? But boy, was I in for a letdown. Watching this sports comedy felt like biting into a flashy-looking candy that turns out to be stale inside. The film traces the strange journey of Shushan, a superstar soccer player for a Jerusalem team, who’s suddenly coerced into faking being gay to escape the wrath of a menacing gangster. Sounds like the setup for an insightful or at least funny story, but instead, it fizzles into a confusing mess that neither tickles your funny bone nor offers a genuine take on the heavy subject of homophobia.
Let me paint you a picture: Shushan’s world flips upside down after a clumsy flirtation gone awry with Mirit, a girl tangled in her own nightmare involving a ruthless figure named Mr. Black. To keep Shushan alive, Mr. Black forces him into an impossible public lie—claiming he’s gay. And this is where the chaos begins. Instead of solidarity, Shushan faces venom from his teammates, apathy from his management, and the cruel jeers of fans who mockingly rename him “Shoshana.” It’s downright painful watching how quickly admiration turns to scorn, revealing a harsh, unsympathetic world cloaked in the guise of sportsmanship.
What followed felt like a carousel stuck on a slow, dreary spin. In an attempt to capitalize on the situation, Shushan’s agent ropes him into a propaganda gig supporting the gay cause in Jerusalem—an angle so uninspired and disconnected it drags the plot deeper into boredom. Meanwhile, Mirit’s shifting feelings toward Shushan felt forced, as if the script was struggling to inject heartbeats into an otherwise lifeless narrative. At the movie’s end, Shushan reveals his “truth,” professes love, and—surprise!—everything returns to status quo. But by then, I was already checked out, wondering if the creators even thought about the message they were sending or the emotions they might stir.
What irked me the most was how this film masked its clumsy biases as humor. The jokes, often tapping into harmful stereotypes, didn’t just fall flat—they felt unpleasantly tone-deaf. Some lines managed to coax a chuckle, sure, but those moments were fleeting sparks in an otherwise dark cloud of political incorrectness. And honestly, Gal Gadot’s role felt like a mere decoration, her talent underused amid a cast of one-dimensional characters I found hard to care about. How someone of her caliber ended up in a movie that trivializes such complex issues puzzles me. It’s almost as if the script was built on a shaky foundation, and even solid acting couldn’t save it from collapsing into dullness.
Watching scenes where Shushan’s forced activism involves dull speeches and awkward school visits made me long for something, anything, that could breathe life into this tale. Instead, the whole experience resembled listening to a monotonous lecture, dragging on without purpose or passion. At times, I asked myself: why am I sticking with this? The boredom was so thick, it practically seeped through the screen. I left feeling that precious hours were squandered on a film that neither entertains nor enlightens.
So, if you’re hoping for a sharp, heartfelt comedy with a knockout performance, steer clear. “Kicking Out Shoshana” promises a lot but delivers very little—like a soccer ball kicked wildly off target. Trust me, some films slip through the goalposts, and sadly, this one is among them.
The film’s premise about faking queerness to dodge gangster wrath could’ve been sharp, but it muddles humor and homophobia without insight. Shushan’s teammates turning venomous instead of grappling with solidarity made the satire feel wasted. I think the stale candy metaphor captures why the setup deflates so fast—it’s all concept, no follow-through.